


Unbelievable

by AnonymousSpacePrince



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 22:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12419742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousSpacePrince/pseuds/AnonymousSpacePrince
Summary: It was a strange thing to fall in love with your best friend, of course, especially when it happened so gradually that you could feel yourself slipping deeper with every passing moment and every fleeting, private smile.Sirius is falling in love with James, and everything is okay. It takes him a good minute and a surprise twist to find the right time to confess his feelings, is all.





	Unbelievable

**Author's Note:**

> oi so this is properly the first thing i wrote for this pairing and i dunno why i've not posted it yet, but here we go.
> 
> in which james and sirius are basically already dating without knowing it and remus loves his best friends but is so done with them.

    Sirius was the rare type of person who did not ache even when he hurt and would not love unless he was loved in return. He was confident to feel only good things even when negativity tried to force itself upon him. Though he frequently displayed expressions of anger, disbelief, and annoyance, he never felt such things deep in his heart, and they were rarely more than fleeting feelings coupled with amusement.

    He enjoyed sharing his good feelings with anyone who shared theirs with him, which ended up being most often his three best friends. Especially James, of course, as he was the very best. Sirius never did hold back a compliment any more than he did an insult, willfully saying to James things such as, "your hair is looking perfectly messy today," and, "Evans is bound to fall in love with you any day now, looking like that." He did maintain some compliments unspoken, however, because- though not a dark feeling, always one he kept to himself- Sirius knew very well that it wasn't Evans who was falling in love with James, but Sirius himself.

    It was a strange thing to fall in love with your best friend, of course, especially when it happened so gradually that you could feel yourself slipping deeper with every passing moment and every fleeting, private smile. Sirius never truly hid his affections, as a matter of fact, but merely watered them down enough to pass for a bond of dearest friendship. Sirius was plenty willing, because he rarely hesitated on anything, to press in upon the boundaries just enough to allow them to bounce back the moment he released them. He was plenty willing to wrap his arms around James' waist, to sit on his lap, to card his fingers lightly through James' hair, and even, sometimes, to press intentionally obnoxious kisses to James' cheeks when James had a bright idea or said something sarcastic to Sirius that required retaliation.

    James, for his part, never was offput in the slightest, always winding his arms around Sirius' neck in turn, holding him securely when Sirius sat in his lap, leaning easily into his touch, and pretending to look perturbed by his kisses but offering those private smiles Sirius loved to receive. At times, he was even so willing to accept Sirius' affections that Sirius thought he might perhaps love him back.

    Of course James loved Sirius, that much was well-known, but to love and to be in love were two extremely different things.

    On one particular day, a rather frigid one in late October, Sirius sat with his three best friends underneath their usual beech tree. He sat beside James, the worn bark digging into their backs through their cloaks in a way that was rather more comfortable than not. Peter sat nearby in the grass, desperately trying to finish a homework assignment he'd put off too long, and Remus sat beside him, calmly reading and occasionally offering Peter help towards an answer.

    There were no important words to be spoken, so Sirius sat silently and enjoyed the company of his friends and the cloud-covered autumn sky in peace. Autumn was Sirius' favorite time of year, when it became chilly but not insufferable and the weather was always rather cheerfully dreary, bathing the Earth in dull sunlight ever softened by the thick, white clouds.

    He was pulled out of his reverie only when James reached for his legs and easily pulled them up over his own lap. Sirius hummed acceptingly and turned to accommodate the new position of his legs, leaning into James and resting his head on James' shoulder. James snaked his arm around Sirius' back to ensure he stayed, and Sirius felt a soft fluttering of affection in his chest. He closed his eyes relaxedly as his mind now focused on James instead of the weather.

    Sirius opened his eyes back a few moments later, just in time to see Remus and Peter look up and notice their change in position. Remus raised his eyebrow and smirked at them; Sirius flipped him off and James pulled his arm tighter around Sirius' waist, almost as if daring their friends to ask a question. Remus just smiled good-naturedly at them and returned to the problem he was helping Peter with. James lifted his other hand to run his fingers gently through Sirius' hair.

    Sirius hummed softly and nuzzled lightly against James' neck, barely aware of what he was doing.

    James chuckled very softly, fondly, and asked, "like that, do you?"

    "No more than you do, you prat," Sirius replied calmly. Indeed, James practically turned to mush any time Sirius played with his hair. Something about it was incredibly soothing.

    James laughed harder, still softer than usual, and said, "you've got me there, Pads."

    For a long moment, everything seemed wildly real, as if he and James were falling in love at that very moment. Sirius wondered faintly if perhaps all he'd have to do was lean up and kiss James, and then they'd be together.

    He was just about to talk himself into really attempting it when James suddenly pushed his legs to the side and stood up, walking at once over to where he'd spotted Evans near the lake. For just a fleeting moment, Sirius felt bitter and somewhat betrayed, but the feelings disappeared as quickly as they'd come. Sirius thought for a second that the smile Remus gave him was more sympathetic than amused.

  
    Sirius spent the rest of the afternoon feeling very suspicious that Remus had become aware of Sirius', feelings for James, but he calmly yet stubbornly refused to be baited into saying something about it by Remus' confused, wondering, and knowing looks.

    Finally, when Remus and Sirius both took an early evening whilst Peter and James stayed in the common room to work on Peter's newest homework, Remus spoke up. Sirius was in the middle of changing to his pyjamas, so when Remus said matter-of-factly, "so, you like James," Sirius threw his undershirt hard at Remus' face. Remus just chuckled and tossed the shirt onto Sirius' bed.

    "'Course I like James, you twit; he's my best friend," Sirius said.

    "You know very well that's not what I meant," Remus said calmly.

    Sirius huffed, though it was more for show than anything. Remus was his best friend too, so of course he wasn't bothered to admit this to him. Sirius pulled on his nightshirt and then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Alright, so I'm falling in love with James," Sirius said, and the words felt quite interesting leaving his mouth for the first time. "Why's it your business?"

    Remus raised his eyebrows when the word _love_ filled the room, and then he said slowly, "well I didn't realise it was that serious-" Sirius snickered, and Remus gave him a stern, almost fatherly look. "-but it's my business because you lot are my best friends and I want to make sure everything stays alright between you two."

    "Well, everything is alright," Sirius says, "so you don't need to worry."

    "Does James know?"

    Sirius gave Remus a withering look and the corner of Remus' mouth turned slightly downward.

    "Right, I suppose that was a stupid question."

    Sirius was about to say something sarcastic when James bounded, loudly and obliviously, up the dormitory stairs. "My ears are burning," he said amusedly. "Were you lot talking about me?"

    "Yeah," Sirius said, immediately breaking into a smile as he caught James' eyes. "I was just telling Moony how hurt I was when you abandoned me for Evans this afternoon," Sirius teased.

    James gasped with a great mock air of regret and made his way towards Sirius. "Oh darling, I'm so terribly sorry!" He exclaimed, overacting, and tackled Sirius back onto his bed, coming to rest lying beside him, their faces a few inches apart on the pillow. "Won't you ever be able to forgive me?"

    Sirius snorted before drawing himself up into a character and telling James, straight faced but dramatically, "I don't know, my deer; you abandoned me for another and broke my fragile heart."

    James looked distraught over the grin he was trying very hard to fight away, and he said, still carrying on in his dramatic tone, "whatever can I do to make you forgive me?"

    Sirius mimed deeply thinking about a solution, tapping his chin with his finger and looking skyward for a long moment. For one daring second, he nearly opened his mouth and told James to kiss him, but the words died on his tongue, Sirius too afraid of the result and too aware that Remus was still sitting nearby, undoubtedly watching them. Instead, he tapped his cheek expectantly with one finger. James laughed lightly and pressed a kiss to Sirius' cheek, causing a fluttering feeling to erupt in Sirius' chest as if a dozen butterflies had been trapped there.

    "Am I forgiven?" James asked, still teasing a bit but now without his dramatic flare.

    Sirius huffed a big fake sigh and said, "fine, I suppose I forgive you now."

    James broke into a big grin that Sirius couldn't help but mimic, and James said, "that's good, because I'd be nothing without you." He was still teasing, it was plain, but the look in his eyes was so sincere that Sirius blushed.

    "Alright, you tosser, no need to get sappy on me," Sirius quipped.

    James snorted and wrapped his arms around Sirius' waist, burying his face against Sirius' chest and going quiet. Sirius fondly rubbed at James' shoulder blade before moving his hand up to play with James' hair. He privately felt rather victorious, because sure, James spent part of his afternoon pursuing Evans, but at the end of the day, it was Sirius he came back to. It was Sirius who got James like this, his guard down, no pretense, close and calm and quiet, and it was Sirius' cheek left with the imprint of James' soft lips.

    After a little while, Sirius noticed Remus looking pointedly at him from his own bed. Sirius raised his eyebrows in a silent question, and Remus mouthed something that Sirius couldn't dissect. Remus knew Sirius couldn't read lips for shit. Sirius knitted his brows together and gave Remus a distinctly confused look, and Remus silently huffed, rolling his eyes. He pointed at James, then made a heart shape with his hands, then pointed at Sirius, then held up two fingers, then mouthed, 'it's obvious,' which Sirius managed to understand. It took him only a second to put together what Remus had said, and then he shook his head minutely despite his heart rate picking up considerably.

    Sirius mouthed back, 'no way,' and Remus just rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

    "Goodnight, you idiots," Remus said to the pair of them, and then shut his curtains.

    "What's he calling us idiots for?" James asked quietly, mildly offended.

    "Dunno," Sirius said. "Are you planning to stay in my bed all night?"

    "Yes," James said. "Why, have you got a problem with that?"

    Sirius laughed lightly and said, "nah."

    "Well, good," James said, "because I'm afraid you haven't got a choice in the matter."

  
    Sirius woke slowly in the morning to the feeling of James running his fingers softly through his hair and butterflies already aflutter in his chest. With his brain still partially asleep, Sirius turned his head and kissed the inside of James' wrist. James' eyes got little crinkles at corners as he smiled at Sirius.

    "Not that I really mind being woken up like this, but what are you waking me up for?"

    "It's time for breakfast," James said, fingers still carding smoothly through Sirius' dark locks.

    "Oh, right," Sirius said. "Well I'm never gonna get up if you keep doing that."

    James laughed warmly and only stopped what he was doing after another extended moment.

    "Damn," Sirius said. "Now I still don't want to get up but I've given up my excuse."

    James snorted. "You're such a git."

    Sirius clicked his tongue and pulled James down in a headlock. They wrestled half-heartedly for a little while, before Sirius tugged James down against his chest and wrapped his arms around him.

    "Now I don't want to get up either," James said against the fabric of Sirius' shirt.

    "Why not?" Sirius asked.

    "Because you're comfortable," James replied easily.

    "Well you're heavy," Sirius said, though he was only teasing.

    "And yet you're holding me here."

    Sirius chuckled. "I didn't say I minded, now did I?"

    "You had better not mind," James said, with a rather comical petulance to his voice.

    "Unbelievable," Remus muttered from his side of the room. Sirius hadn't even realized Remus was awake, let alone washed and dressed, as all his attention had been on James.

    "What's unbelievable?" Sirius asked, turning his head to look at Remus.

    "You two tossers are," Remus responded.

    "Oi, what crawled up your arse, Moony?" James asked impatiently.

    "Nothing, thank you," Remus said easily. "Why don't you check Sirius's?" He added with the ghost of a smirk, before heading off toward the door.

    Sirius sat up, displacing James and earning an offended noise, and grabbed his wand. He quickly cast a transfiguration spell that turned Remus' hair shockingly purple. Remus didn't notice, and left for breakfast like that. James laughed hard for a bit and then asked, "what's with him?"

    "Dunno," Sirius said. "I haven't got anything up my arse either."

    James snorted loudly. "Come on, let's get to breakfast and see how everyone reacts to Moony's new 'do."

  
    Everyone was already chuckling at Remus' hair by the time Sirius and James arrived in the great hall, but Remus was sat eating his breakfast, entirely unconcerned.

    "Which one of you turned my hair purple?" He asked relaxedly as James and Sirius sat down on his right side.

    "Me," said Sirius.

    "Well, thanks," Remus said. "I was just thinking it was time for a change."

    "It does look quite good on you, mate," James said honestly, amusement in his voice nonetheless.

    "Yeah, purple suits you," Peter added from Remus' left side.

    "I think we should do Sirius' next," James said smartly.

    Sirius turned a glare on James that would've been downright frightening had James not already known that Sirius meant nothing by it. "I'll remove your hands and put them back on the wrong wrists," Sirius threatened swiftly.

    "You wouldn't like a new colour?" James asked teasingly. "I think you'd do well with a nice platinum blond."

    Sirius' glare increased as James tugged lightly at a segment of his hair. "I'd look like a Malfoy, and I'd be forced to murder you."

    James scoffed. "You would never."

    "Wouldn't I?" Sirius asked, smiling menacingly before he tackled James right off the bench and onto the floor.

    "Oh, honestly," Remus said disapprovingly, but he turned to watch his friends wrestle with an amused smile.

    Sirius and James wrestled around for a good bit, gaining the attention of most of their Gryffindor table and the Hufflepuff table beside them, until Sirius managed to pin James down, holding his wrists firmly against the stone floor.

    "Alright, let me up, you git," James said, his eyes betraying his amusement regardless of what his mouth said.

    "Not until you tell me I'm the greatest," Sirius said smugly.

    James rolled his eyes and smiled up at Sirius and said, "you are the greatest, you utter tosser."

    "And don't you forget it," Sirius said. He kissed the tip of James' nose and then stood up, bowed to their audience, and offered a hand which James took with a jovial grin.

  
    Out by their same old tree later in the afternoon, James was lying on his back with his head resting on Sirius' thigh, and Sirius was combing his fingers through James' messy hair as usual.

    When James spotted Evans walking towards the castle nearby and made to get up and pursue her, Sirius grabbed hold of his wrist and said teasingly, "oi, if you abandon me for Evans the second day in a row, it's gonna take more than a kiss to my cheek for me to forgive you."

    James smiled a smile that was amused and genuine and said, "can't say as I'd mind that, but here, you can come with me," and he pulled Sirius, whose brain had just suddenly ground to a halt, to his feet. James slipped his fingers between Sirius' and pulled him along towards Evans, and Sirius cast a wide-eyed, open-mouthed look at Remus, who had heard what James said and quite mirrored Sirius' surprise.

    James caught up to Evans a few yards from the tree, and said, "alright, Evans? Lovely day, isn't it?"

    She turned, looking rather bemused, and glanced down at James' and Sirius' interlocked hands before looking blankly at James. "Sure it is. What are you on about today?"

    "Do you want to go out with me?"

    Sirius felt a sneak of bitter jealously, and squeezed James' hand somewhat unintentionally.

    "What was my answer yesterday?" Evans asked.

    "'No,'" James said.

    "And the day before that?"

    "'No.'"

    "Right," Evans said. "So what on Earth makes you think my answer would be any different today?"

    "Perhaps you've gotten tired of saying no," James said with a mulish grin.

    The dark, irritating feeling of jealousy crept further into Sirius' chest, making him feel as though some animal had made a nest there and would not stop scratching at his ribs.

    Evans scoffed. "I haven't," she said. "Besides, you're really trying to ask me out while you're holding your best mate's hand?"

    "Why not?" James asked.

    "Well that's not exactly common practice, is it?" Evans asked coolly.

    "Damn common practice," James said.

    Evans shot Sirius the slightest smile, and he hadn't the faintest clue what it meant. "Honestly, James, could you just give up already?" Evans asked him. "I'm not going to say yes; I've recently began to see someone, and I think you'd do well to pursue one of your other options."

    Sirius' mood brightened at the knowledge that Evans was now safely out of James' reach, and Sirius likely wouldn't be losing him any time soon.

    "Right," James said, and he didn't sound hurt like Sirius would've expected. Sirius' heart flipped stupidly as he put together James' calm demeanor upon knowing the girl he'd chased for years was now taken with his earlier remark to Sirius. "I suppose if you're with someone, I'll step off," James told Evans.

    "Maybe ask me out as a friend sometime; I'm far more likely to say yes," Evans said easily, and then she patted James' shoulder and walked off.

    "Right," James said blankly.

    "You okay, Prongs?"

    "Yeah," James said. "Yeah, weirdly, I am." After a short moment, he said, "do you know what?"

    "What?"

    "I don't think I really wanted to go out with her anymore anyway."

    "Oh?" Sirius asked. His chest now felt somewhat like someone had placed an owl inside it.

    "Yeah," James said, and then, "well, come on, suppose we should catch Moony and Wormtail up."

    James tugged Sirius along back to the tree, and once they sat down, he leaned into Sirius' side and laid his head on Sirius' shoulder.

    "Did she say yes?" Peter asked.

    "Nah, she's seeing someone now," James said casually. Peter looked shocked, and Remus' head snapped up to look at Sirius rather than James.

    "And how do you feel about that?" Remus asked after a moment, when he finally did look at James.

    James shrugged nonchalantly. "Rather unconcerned, if I'm honest."

    "Oh? Why's that?" Remus asked.

    "Come off it, Moony. Since when are you a bloody detective?"

    Remus snorted. "Well, it's a bit curious, mate. You've wanted Lily for ages, now she's with someone else, and you're 'unconcerned'?"

    "I suppose, yeah," James said casually.

    "Are you sure?" Peter asked worryingly.

    "Honestly, you two, I'm completely fine," James said. "I wouldn't lie to you lot. I don't know why I'm fine, I just am." He settled his arm around Sirius' waist, leaning further into him, and said, "besides, I've got the best three friends in the world, why should I want to bring anyone else into our inner circle?"

    Remus looked appraisingly at James and Sirius for a moment, and then said in a tone of disbelief to match the word, "un-be-lievable!"

    "What are you on about now?" James asked.

    Remus threw his hands up in an I-give-up gesture and said, "I'm gonna go to the library and get a start on my homework. Wanna come with, Wormtail?"

    Peter looked between Sirius and James and Remus, appearing as if he was going to say he wanted to stay, but Remus gave him a look and Peter said, "yeah, alright," and got up to follow Remus up to the castle.

    "What was that about?" James asked.

    Sirius decided, if ever there was a time to make his feelings clearly known, it was now. Anxiety pooled unfamiliarly in his gut, for anything rarely made him nervous. He couldn't convince himself to make a direct move outright, so, feeling slightly frustrated with himself, Sirius kissed the top of James' head. James moved to look at him with a smile.

    "What was that for?" James asked.

    Rather than answering him, Sirius pressed a kiss to James' cheek.

    "And that?"

    Still ignoring James' questions, Sirius took James' face lightly in both his hands and finally, finally pressed a kiss right to his lips. The butterflies that had been already nervously fluttering in Sirius' chest exploded. At once, James gasped and pulled back, and Sirius' blood ran cold. For a long, terrible moment, Sirius was certain he'd made a grave mistake, but then James slid his fingers through Sirius' hair, pushing it back from his face and coming to rest at the back of his head, and he pulled Sirius in for a real kiss.

    The fluttering in Sirius' chest reached such a high that he felt dizzy, and he held tightly to James and kissed him back for all he was worth. Their lips moved together as nimbly as he and James did in everything they shared, and Sirius felt positively drunk and felt the pleasantness of it all the way to his toes. His fingertips tingled where they rested against James' smooth skin, and his lips were warm and wet and seemed to move of their own accord, parting against James's. Their lips were brushing together again and again, soft and smooth and not at all harsh. Sirius would surely think of nothing more than how shockingly hot and sensuous it was if not for the fact that it was incredibly sweet as well, and his brain focused heavily on that.

    They pulled delicately apart after what seemed to Sirius like a decade fit inside a microsecond. "Bloody hell," James breathed. "You're properly amazing, Sirius, do you know that?"

    Sirius could not feel a single negative emotion at that moment even if his whole family suddenly Apparated around them. He wouldn't even spare them a glance, far too busy taking in every tiny detail of the look on James' face: the crinkle of his eyes, the soft part of his lips as he smiled reverently, the dilation of his pupils, the wonderment and awe and pure happiness shining in his eyes.

    "I'm in love with you," Sirius said, realizing in the same moment that he was no longer falling, but was entirely there.

    "Merlin," James said incredulously. "I don't think I realised it until now, but I'm in love with you too."

    Sirius wasn't expecting him to say that, and all of a sudden it had never been easier to fill his lungs with breath. "Are you really?"

    "How couldn't I be?" James asked. "You've been the best part of my life for as long as you've been in it."

    "You bloody sap," Sirius said, and kissed James again.

    "I'm such an oblivious git," James said when they parted.

    Sirius laughed warmly. "Yeah, you are."

  
    A short while later, Sirius and James strolled into Potions holding hands, which no one quite batted an eye at since they did it often, and took seats at the desk in front of the one Peter and Remus were sitting at. Amid the quiet chatter of the still-professorless classroom, Sirius turned in his seat to speak to Remus, who still had purple hair. To be fair, it really did suit him.

    "Oi, Moony, you can quit your stress fest now; I told James I'm in love with him and it turns out he loves me back."

    Remus looked at them, as if making sure it wasn't one of their nonsensical jokes, and then said, as drily as a person could manage, "really? I never would've guessed."

  
    James approached Lily in the hall the next day, again with Sirius' hand held tightly in his own.

    "Oh, honestly, James, if this is a repeat of yesterday-"

    "It isn't," James cut her off. "I've realised I'm in love," he said, briefly shooting Sirius one of those smiles that always made his chest go aflutter. "I just thought I'd see if you wanna grab a drink with us in Hogsmeade this weekend. As friends, of course."

    Finally, Lily smiled a warm, friendly smile at James. "Sure," she said, "that'd be alright."


End file.
